You might think that yogurt wouldn’t work in a dairy-free cake, but i’ve had great success using dairy-free yogurt to create a light and fluffy but also moist sponge.
This week’s inspiration was once again the Great British Bake Off, unfortunately they chose to make it dairy-week so i obviously had to flip that over into being non-dairy week! The choices were a cake including a cultured dairy-product, maids of hour or Mishhti (Indian sweets). neither Maids of Honour (custard tarts), or Mishti appealed so I went with the cultured dairy(free!) cake.
The beauty of using yogurt means the bicarb is activated without the need for any vinegar, giving a lovely delicate flavour that works well with this lemon and poppy seed version. The crumb is delicate but moist and would carry many flavour combinations with ease. This lemon is subtle (that was to encourage the youngest who isn’t a fan!) so if you like more lemon zing i would recommend adding a drizzle before the icing.
Lemon and Poppyseed Yogurt Cake
(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegan and vegetarian)
makes 1 loaf
200g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
pinch of salt
1 tbsp cornflour
2 tbsp poppy seeds
100g caster sugar
zest of 1 lemon
2 tbsp lemon juice
100ml flavourless oil
125ml dairy-free yogurt
125ml dairy-free milk
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade and line a loaf tin (I used a 2lb tin)
- Sift together the flour, bicarb, baking powder, salt and cornflour.
- Stir in the sugar, lemon zest and poppy seeds
- In a separate bowl mix together the oil, yogurt, lemon juice and milk. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix to form a smooth batter
- Pour into the lined loaf tin, level off and bake for 45-55 minutes until a knife comes out clean.
- Remove from the tin and cool on a wire rack.
- Drizzle with lemon syrup if you like it zingy
- Top with a water icing made with icing sugar and lemon juice
